The Bridge on the Drina

"The Bridge on the Drina" is the most famous novel by the Yugoslav writer Ivo Andric (1892-1975), who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961.

The narrative of the novel spans four hundred years: from the peak of the Ottoman Empire to the 20th century, 1914, when the assassination in Sarajevo occurred and the First World War began.

All the main actions unfold around the bridge over the Drina River in Visegrad (modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina), built in 1571 by the great vizier Mehmed Pasha Sokolovic.

The bridge is the central image of the novel and its main symbol - time inexorably takes everything around, and only the bridge endures for centuries, remaining an unchanging witness to the events that took place.

The novel consistently and accurately describes the life in Visegrad and its inhabitants, which is why it has been called the "Visegrad Chronicle," narrating the Turkish rule in the Balkans.